I arrived in Idaho a few days ago and things have been relaxing to say the least. That is until today. I have played some golf, watched some baseball and played cribbage with my mother. My aunt and my cousin's boyfriend Nate are also in town so it has been good to catch up with them. The weather has been colder than expected, so not much time spent on the lake. The water is pretty much freezing. Today was the first big adventure of the vacation back in America. My mother and aunt enjoy doing some kayaking which is relaxed and a nice little float up then down the river that enters Payette Lake. I was expecting something similar when I was thrown out of bed and brought to where we put in the kayaks. Little did I know what was about to ensue. First off it was cold outside and windy which really stirred up the water. Kayaking in multiple layers of clothing is pretty awesome. Second the water level is really high because there has been so much snow that the water ruff off from the mountains is still way above normal levels. We got out our kayaks and put in. I was feeling like I had prepared for this upper body workout by doing about 100 pushes in the last ummm 7 months. We got on the water, myself in my kayak, my mom and aunt in a double, and nate in his own kayak. Going alone was my first mistake. Within about 5 minutes of going up the river I had my first blister and if I didnt keep pushing I was literally going backwards. The nice cool, ice cold breeze kept pushing my kayak sideways and water from my oar into my face. I was pretty happy with my decision to go out today. After about 2 hours of going up hill (actually about 30 minutes) we had covered about 200 meters. Truly the worlds slowest moving vehicle. We pulled into a beautiful lake that was nice and calm and I recharged. The scenery is beautiful something right out of Deliverance. We went back onto the moving sidewalk we were paddling against and finally got to our turn around point. At this time I had resigned myself to the fact that I may die of exhaustion on this river. The float down was beautiful. I may have only paddled once and just flew back. We arrived safe and sound back at the drop in point with a false sense of grandeur as if we had just kayaked down the entire colorado river. Total mileage was not even one mile round trip. I feel like a have completed a journey which will change me forever...not really but it ended up being a good time and not nearly as hard as described. We made it home and relaxed watching some baseball. I can justify doing nothing now.
My summer feels half over. Its been really good to see the people I have but there are so many that I have missed out on seeing. Below I added some more information about McCall. Hope you all have a Happy 4th!
McCall is a small vacation town with a population of around 3000 people. Originally a logging community it is now an all season tourist destination for outdoor activities. Along with Brundage Ski Mountain the main attraction is beautiful Payette Lake which features all sorts of water activities.
